Union
by Lizabethia
Summary: Insights into lover's hearts and minds at the genesis of galactic war...because we all wondered how Padme's AOTC arena love confession turned into a marriage with the Chosen One.
1. Part I: Padme

Read a lot of these proposal stories back in the day when the prequels were coming out, but I was 13 and couldn't write! Finally, now it's my turn on a take...Not sure how many chapters it will last... 4, 5? Reviews make me write faster and better : )

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**"Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that." -MLK**

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Padmé _Naberrie Amidala_

_Hyperspace, somewhere en route to Coruscant_

I feel two things right now: 1. My overwhelming, all-encompassing concern for you and 2. The eyes of Masters Kenobi and Yoda upon us.

It's because I haven't left your side Anakin. Nothing could take me away and no one has suggested I do otherwise. Yet I sense the heavy disapproval wafting in our direction from across the ship. No, I can't fool myself; I recognize my rushing to your side, my fierce embrace of you following your confrontation with Dooku did not go unscrutinized. It unnerves me a little, the Jedi Masters' hyper-attention to you even amidst the chaos of battle, but I remind myself to dissect the priorities of the Jedi Order at a later time. Instead, I turn my focus back to you.

There are tiny, iridescent pearls of sweat on your forehead and I'm wishing I had a cool towel to wipe them away. For hours now you've been unconscious in some sort of Jedi-healing induced trance. Med-droids have you hooked up to countless cords and cables pumping _force-knows-what_ into your veins. The monitors blink and click rhythmically in time to the *plink, plink* of your bacta-drip and I realize my hectic breathing from earlier has finally slowed in tune to its mechanized pattern. There are so many devices connected to you. I can't help but grimace at the sight of more machine than man.

Oh Ani, you've been hurt horribly, but you are strong. You're life has been full of suffering...some suffering I've been with you through and some I can only sympathize with. Your afflictions in the past few days alone has been more than most experience in a lifetime.

The loss of your mother. The loss of so many Jedi brethren. The loss of your limb.

In this moment, there's nothing I can do but stay next to you and privilege your unconscious body with my presence, hoping, praying that I can soothe you like you said I could. You've always been so honest with me so I don't doubt that it's the truth. So I am thankful that you're unconscious, thankful that you're resting somewhere far, far away. True, it's a certain kind of torture, having you here but not really having _you_ here. I'm not too lonely or selfish to wish for your company in your present pain; your physical wounds are great and your emotional wounds undoubtedly greater. I beg your body and spirit to heal. _Heal, please heal, get better, come back to me, come back to me with the same bright spirit. Come back and love me again. I promise to love you back…_my mind plays this mantra on repeat.

Your cot is low to the ground where I sit next to it with my head leaning against the wall. I usually enjoy my time in hyperspace. Despite the recycled air and the constant chill of a ship cabin, a space commute is typically a time when I am able recover between travels to Coruscant, Naboo, or the other myriad of planets the politician's life has shuffled me between. On the contrary, today there will be no rest for me. A war breaks upon the horizon of the Republic and it has broken the body of my love. Thus the hours crawl by slowly and my mind wonders...

_"__You love me! I thought we decided not to fall in love. That we would be forced to live a lie. That it would destroy our lives."_

_"__I think our lives are about to be destroyed anyway and before we die, I want you to know."_

Well, Ani we're not dead. Just cut up, bruised, worse-for-wear but alive. Life is truly remarkable.

No, I did not tell you I loved you because it was the easy thing to do. I didn't do it as a last favor or boon before impending doom. I once told you that giving into our love would be to live a lie. I was wrong; our love could never be a lie. It is our truth. And I couldn't let that truth die within my transient body.

I reach a hand behind my back and lightly finger the scratches. I wince. I refused medical care, insisted every med-droid attend to you and the Jedi first. Besides, my adrenaline up to now hasn't let the pain invade my senses. I fought with a passion against that nexu and droids so that our love would have another chance to live.

**Love.**

Today I have felt many things-panic, injustice, fear, resolution, anger, aggression, determination, and yes, love. Since I have allowed my heart to feel for you, it also threatens to crumble and break for you. I guess that's the rate of exchange for love.

Unexpectedly, Master Obi-Wan begins to approach us. I prepare to argue for the sake of staying here with you but before I can say a word he crouches down besides me and takes a blanket from beneath his cloak. He hands it to me and exhales. "Padmé, you must try to sleep. We still have several hours until we reach Coruscant." His is both compassionate and authoritarian, like a kindly parent. Indeed, I've heard my own father and mother use the same tone with me as child.

I shake my head in tired, forlorn agreement. Without saying a word I accept the utilitarian blanket and watch him walk off. Maybe I was mistaken about his perceived judgment…so I lay it over my legs and bare midriff and will myself to rest. I instead drift in and out of fidgety un-sleep.

Sometime later the low hum of the ship's interior is interrupted and there is increasingly hurried shuffling between the clone crew and Jedi passengers. Quiet mumbling is replaced with louder conversation and orders are given for landing. We must be nearing the capitol. I'm anxious. They're going to take you away from me soon.

When you do come back to me, after the Jedi healers at the temple fix you up, fit you for a mechno-arm, I'll be waiting. War is coming and we'll both need each other to fall into when things go well and lean against then they go wrong. I believe deeply that the Order is where you belong. It's what Shmi would have wanted. Yet, the Jedi cannot give you what I can; how can they begin to offer what they've never had themselves? A family. A home. A lover. Yet they do give the structure and purpose to your life that I doubt I could deliver on my own. My heart may be light with love, but this head remains grounded.

Our transport descends upon a landing dock at the Jedi Temple. As I expected, there is rush of action upon the disembarkation. Several clone troopers come to carry your cot away to the Temple._ Come back to me, soon, soon, please..._

Amidst the chaos, I feel the artificial wind on Coruscant blowing into the ship and it stings my watering eyes. The sight of you leaving me is the last thing I see before yellow light blurs my peripheral vision, I hear an unfamiliar ringing, and all goes **black**.

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Feedback-good, bad, ugly, constructive? Cliff hangers resolve faster with comments ; ) Anakin's thoughts to come...


	2. Part II: Anakin

Thank you for your reviews, follows, and favorites fair readers! Sorry for the delay in between posts, pls expect a new Padmé part to go up much sooner. Fyi readers, this is a story based on the inner motivations and thought processes leading up to marriage, I hope no one is expecting major AU plot twists or turns. Trying to respect cannon in this one.

**Mmbookworm **– Thanks for reading. I appreciate your input. You're right, these are not truly rambling thoughts, I believe other authors have the style covered. I was (hopefully) writing in more detailed prose

**Lusitana **– Thanks! I hope you continue to read and enjoy

**Resikat** \- Thanks for the thoughtful comment. Sorry for the long wait for the 2nd post, work got crazy the past couple weeks. And Anakin is not a easy character to write first-person.

**sharp52092** \- I appreciate your interest

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**"So I love you because the entire universe conspired to help me find you." **

– **Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist**

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_Anakin Skywalker_

_Jedi Temple, Coruscant _

Inner peace.

Harmony.

Serenity.

That's what I'm supposed to be dwelling on. It's easier, not to mention a more enjoyable way to pass the time, to think of the person that brings me that peace and serenity. I'm tired, so very tired, of trying to rely on my own ability to procure it.

_Padmé's flushed cheeks. Dewey and pink. The soft, botanical smell of her hair. A scent full of life. The slide of her lips against mine. Pure bliss…_

I lick my own mouth craving that bliss again. These are the things my mind is set upon. My conscience flips through our moments together, one after another. As soon as one memory ends another detail of a moment spent with her rushes through like the Coruscant traffic outside my chamber's window. If the shades weren't closed I could no doubt see the endless speeders hastening through the city. Maybe she's in one of those speeders right now. I stop myself from irrationally peaking through the shut blinds to find out.

I let out a sigh. My injuries have confined me to the Temple ever since our return from Geonosis, but that will change soon. Right away, Obi-Wan sat me down after we were both discharged from the Halls of Healing…

_"Our choices define who we are." _

_ "Of course, Master."_

_"As Jedi we are expected to make decisions in accordance to the will of the Force for the better of the galaxy. That is why there is a Code for us to follow. It aids in our decision-making. It guides us so we can best identify between the Force's will and what may be our own personal, flawed outlook…"_

_ "A lesson in will of the Force, Master? I'm not sure where…"_

_ Obi-Wan had held his hand up in gentle rebuttal. _

_ "You've been called by the Council to escort Senator Amidala back to Naboo. Anakin, I'm imploring you to yet again, look past your personal feelings on this assignment and to make the correct decisions as a Jedi." _

My jaw clenches remembering this conversation, no, lecture. What had he said? That the Force's will could never conflict with our Jedi code? So according to his logic the **most** **ubiquitous power in the universe** was boxed in by a list of man-made tenants and rules? I don't know if I can believe that. I do however believe in destiny...It is destiny and destiny alone that has brought me to her again after all these years. Surely the Force had a role in that.

As much as I have learned to respect the Code and to live my life according to it, I still strive to follow the _Living_ Force as Qui-Gon had iterated. I recall so vividly his words to me on that day of the pod race...

_"Remember, concentrate on the moment. Feel, don't think. Trust your instincts."_

Wise words for then and for now. Instinct is something a Jedi relies on heavily; I owe my life a hundred-fold to it. Yet those same instinctive signals invoked her name within me during my recovery, they invoke it even now…Padmé Naberrie Amidala. Padmé Naberrie. Padmé. Just Padmé. _My_ Padmé.

My feelings aren't forced or manipulated. Unlike this convoluted meditation session they don't require special learned breathing or skilled mindfulness. Our love, our feelings came naturally from within both of us. I can feel myself smiling; I'm a man in love with love returned. Who else within these Temple walls can say the same? How awe inducing! How natural! What could be more transcendent than this?

Padmé has seen me at my worst after mom's death and chose to love me still. The pain her passing still roars inside; her limp, emaciated body the heaviest weight I have ever bore. Sitting cross-legged on this cushioned platform my muscles begin to seize with tension and my jaw clamps tight.

Then I envision Padme's trusting brown eyes on me in the arena and the moment passes. She comes to blow away my inner smoke and ash like a misty breeze rolling over waterfalls from our Varykino picnic. The memory is the only balm to my discomfort. What if I didn't have those memories to temper the hurt? Would the ache inside overtake me, would it boil over like a rowdy pot? Could I be infuriated to the point that I might be violent again?

I exhale loudly wishing that my many emotions could be pushed away just as easy.

I never was very good at meditation. Undoubtedly, it's a discipline aided by time. I realize I lack a good 10 years formal training compared to other Jedi learners my age. No, I've never been the typical padawan. Maybe I should not, could NOT be held to the Code after all.

Yet I'm a Jedi, I know I'm better than this. So I close my eyes. Open my mind. I wait.

And a feeling arises.

The force is not merely nudging me. Nope, it's more like a shove.

Yes, Obi Wan I will make the right decision on this assignment. The right decision for _me._ The right decision for _us_

On this I shall mediate.


	3. Part III: Padme

**Mmbookworm**\- Glad you stuck with me Bookworm! I take into account all comments and I'm very excited to have you along for the ride!

**QueenYoda** \- Happy to see you again!...As far as hopefulness in this fic, I definitely have always be interested in A and P's relationship from more of a "realistic" perspective. Love is weird and spontaneous but I refuse to believe there wasn't some thought behind it. I know this is a space-opera but I looong to be conivinced of their relationship, especially the decision to formally marry. That's what I love about fanfiction, so many limitless opportunites to _be convinced_ and _to convince_ (or at least to try!).

**Lusitana**-Thanks for sticking around, this was the first time I wrote in Anakin's perspective. He's definitely a puzzle, had to put a bit more thought into him

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**"****You give and give and give and give. Don't you ever want to take, just a little?" –Sola Naberrie to Padme Amidala, "Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones" novel by R.A. Salvatore**

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Padmé Amidala

500 Republica

Bedroom

Wam. Wam. Wam...goes the ache in my head. It seems that no amount of pain medication erases the dull throb entirely. The nurses told me via a clone trooper that I hit my head on perma-crete due to a faint attributed to dehydration and exhaustion. _No kidding_, I think, and I rub my temples. Animal-inflicted flesh-wounds, bruised pelvis, dislocated shoulder, and fractured ribs round out the list of my injuries on Geonosis; yet it definitely could have been worse.

Since being discharged from the civilian med-center, my staff have exiled me to my bed for the last two days. Typho was particularly insistent upon it and has taken it upon himself to sit outside my door preventing escape. To top it off, my dutiful handmaidens have forbidden any stimuli related to work or the outside world to even cross the entry way to my bedroom. No HoloNet, no datapad. I'm sure Dormé is holding my holoreader hostage somewhere. So that leaves me alone to my thoughts…again.

It's a funny feeling, being alive on the other side of a death sentence. I've certainly been no stranger to perilous situations in my life, yet none quite so seemingly final. Right before Anakin and I entered that fateful arena, when I admitted my love to him, I truly thought we would be killed. I had finally given myself over to those feelings that had been smashed down deep within for the past few weeks. Ever since, there is a feathery-lightness to my being that I can't put my finger on. Even with these injuries, even despite this damned headache, I feel as if a shaak has been pulled off my chest. Certainly complications have arisen from being not-dead but, there is nothing left in this galaxy that will stop Anakin and I from being together in the future. Cheating death was as if we were handed another chance to let our love live and thrive. There are no alternative paths to take once given this gift._ Our love** will** live, Ani._ I know you have always seen it as supernaturally ordained and so it feels that way.

I let that sink in for a moment. It all makes me a little light-headed and then emotion threatens to over take me to the point where I have to consciously remind myself to breath. We were together just two days ago, now all of a sudden we're not. Your skin next to mine, your smell in my senses...now, no more. You're somewhere deep within the Jedi Temple, maybe going into surgery or coming out. My heart is strained in concern. I also miss your companionship.

With you it's so easy to be comfortable. The history between us has aided in our ease but ultimately I think it comes down to our commonalities. We share many of the same values. Public service. Responsibility. Loyalty. Leadership. We have grown-up in worlds full of Mace Windus, Sio Bibbles, and Obi-Wans. When it's just the two of us together, we can be a little less relevant, a little less burdened, a little **less our positions** and a little **more ourselves**.

You saw me for merely me. Not merely as a political pawn to be used or a former queen to be idolized, as so many mistakenly do. You saw me as a woman. And a confidant. And a friend. Those eyes rested upon me intentional and heavy with honesty, meaning, promises. I crave to be looked at like that again. Next time I won't look away. I will willingly accept what your eyes offer me and will no longer recoil from you. I will revel in our love.

It has been a wonder to see the man you've become. Charismatic, giving, clever, thoughtful, enigmatic, capable...and of course handsome and passionate. I want you, Anakin, as the person you are. You want me as the person I am. What more needs to be settled? A decision to love and to return love should be made between lovers and lovers alone. It has no place in a Jedi Council's chambers or Senate floor. It is ours, not to be share, not to be made to ask permission for.

I can envision my family supporting this decision and it brings me comfort. I recall my sister chastising me so recently...

"_You're 24 years old with a 70 year old's resume. Slow down! Enjoy and taste life before your face catches up your qualifications." _

Despite my verbal objections to Sola, I have always secretly imagined a more normal existence as part of my future. An existence that would include a partner, a marriage.

Marriage. This was the first time the word came to me. Was that even a possibility? Was that something Anakin wanted?

Before I could develop my thoughts on the subject, I hear a knock from the door.

"Come in," I answer while propping myself up on the bed.

The door opens inanely slow. It's Dormé with a sheepish expression.

"M'lady, I've just spoken with the Chancellor's office."

"And…" I encourage.

"You're not going to like it. Palpatine has personally insisted that you take a short leave of absence and return home to Naboo to recover." She hesitates, "You are to leave tomorrow."

I figured something of this nature maybe coming, so this is no surprise. Sometimes that man is more meddlesome-grandfather than anything! Of course I would prefer to stay on Coruscant with this war just beginning. And Anakin was on Coruscant. However, coming from Palpatine there would be no choice in the matter. I wonder too if my undoubtedly anxious family had heard of my involvement at Geoosis and petitioned him as well.

"I see," I tell Dormé. "I'll take bath. Please pack my bags and make all the necessay arrangements."

"There's more…The Jedi Council has commissioned Padawan Anakin Skywalker to escort you." Her face looked unsure, as if she couldn't reconcile the situation to herself. I remind myself that the last time I was sent home with him, I had been displeased with the arrangement. "I'm sorry if that's not what you would have wanted Senator."

I nod my head in a resigned manner and beg her privacy. I do my best to mask my pleasure even as she leaves.

Dormé was wrong. This is exactly what I want. I know it now.

I want forever. And I want it to start as soon as possible.


	4. Part IV: Anakin and Padme

Hope someone out this is still reading! Long gap between posts, I know. Sorry! Real life and 50-60 hour work weeks are a total bummer!

This will be 2nd to last post... I think.

As always, reviews are the best!

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**"My most brillant achievement was my ability to be able to persuade my wife to marry me." –Winston Churchill**

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**Anakin Skywalker**

**Naboo Lake Country**

**Varykino House**

I run my remaining humanoid hand across the coarse, stone railing of Varykino's veranda and then I breathe in deeply, inhaling the moist smell of the local fauna. I want to take in everything about this moment. It is a quiet moment, a peaceful and lovely moment. I can't help but note that my life up this point has been sorely lacking in moments like these. I have learned not to take beauty for granted. One second I'm here enjoying heaven-on-earth and the next I'll be fighting at the front lines of war. From extreme to extreme, so goes my life…

Unconsciously, the smell of this place brings me back to the last time I was here, just two weeks ago. Nothing about this location has changed in the time I have been away; undoubtedly I can imagine this place hasn't changed in hundreds of years. Yet, these memories that arise within me seem to come from a different galaxy then the one I currently exist in.

And then I remember. I remember once living in a galaxy where I had to bid for your love, Padmé. It was a cruel and trying place. Do you know what it feels like to be in world where those closest to you don't respond to your pleas for acceptance? From the arms of my loving mother, I was passed into Obi-Wan's chilled care. And from there I came to your crossed ones. It wasn't easy convincing you to open them to me. It wasn't easy laying my heart open, earnestly and repeatedly.

I remember a moment we had together here, not too long ago in that galaxy. Yes, maybe I acted-out in my pursuit of your affection. _Did I truly contrast your skin to Tatooine sand?_ I can feel my mouth unconsciously contort and I cringe at those early attempts at seduction, but then I find myself chuckling and noting…_It worked didn't it? _

Well, sort-of. Despite my casual glee, I am thankful that you will no longer break off and turn from my kiss. No, you're not too proud to hide your feelings anymore. Feelings I had suspected were there. I think of the conversation we had, just a day ago. You had been so striking, in a rose-colored gown, lounging with me near the hearth of the parlor, fire on your face…

You were the first one to speak, "I've been thinking. If we plan on being together…"

"And we will be." I reassure you.

"But if anyone should ever find out…the Jedi, the Senate, even the media, the public…I don't want them to uncover some, " you had swallowed, struggling for words to accurately describe your contempt "…horrible, covered up liaison…I don't want an…a-affair. I want,..I think we_ both_ may want-"

"More." I finished your sentence.

You sighed in agreement. "I thought you couldn't read my mind."

"No, it's because we're of the _same mind._" I caressed her hands, firmly rooted against my chest.

"But the Order. The Order is a part of you. It's where you belong."

I stopped massaging her hands and instead gripped them firmly with my own. "Padmé, don't you realize that it's _you_ who I've belonged to for all these years_?_ The first time we met, when you fell out of the Tatoonine sky into Watto's shop like the angel I knew you were, my destiny was set. _You_ are my destiny. You were part of it even before the Jedi accepted me for training."

I had to swallow back passionate emotion as I recalled the last, fateful conversation in that room, "I no longer wish I could wish away my feelings. And if or when the galaxy finds us out…well, perhaps it's best to ask forgiveness rather than ask for permission."

You made a face and said, "Is that a famous Jedi's saying?"

"Oh, I think he will be." I retorted.

You pause for a second before an unceremonious snort of laughter came out. I joined in and we both laughed heartily, thankful for levity, albeit brief as it was.

I then continued more seriously, "I need you. Body and soul. And if anyone ever finds that out…so be it. Let them find something beautiful." I gently brought your fingers to my lips. I kissed one finger, "They would find **friendship**…," I kissed another. "…**commitment**," and another "…**unconditional love**. They could also find a union…maybe even…a marriage."

I recall your short intake of breath. I pointed to the veranda and continued with a smile I couldn't contain, "Padmé, marry me! Right here-right outside these doors. Before we have to leave and go back to our duties."

And somehow you agreed. Somehow I convinced you.

So here I am, standing at the very spot where you denied me, now transformed into the spot where you will indulge me. A priest stands along with me next to two droids acting as witnesses. Destiny must have a sense of humor.

Suddenly, this quiet moment is interrupted as a bird flutters behind me, it's call bringing my attention to the parlor's doorway.

And then I saw you…

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**Padmé Naberrie Amidala**

**Naboo Lake Country**

**Varykino House**

A white kova bird flutters in front of the doorway just as I step through the billowing curtains. I instinctively look down, bracing myself against its too-close wings. We seem to have startled each other. When I look up, the twinkling scintillations from sunlight hitting the lake dizzies me and I nearly trip on the front of my gown. Thus I meet this grace-filled moment utterly graceless.

And then I saw you…and nothing else matters. Surely, even the mirrored-shimmering of the lake's reflection is not as bright as you are, my love. It is as if you are a sun-star and I am a planet, drawn by forces of nature to your orbit.

I blink the light from my eyes and continue my walk toward you in this heavy, beaded wedding costume. Actually, it is my grandmother's own marriage gown, having been hidden away in one of the many closets of our family's retreat. My arms hang heavy and lonely by my side. I have no traditional paternal escort leading me, just a magnetic pull into providence. Surely, tt feels that the Force itself ushers me across this rotunda.

With each step, I recall the fateful events that have ultimately led me to you: an emergency landing on a forgotten desert planet…multiple assassination attempts on my life…a Jedi assignment of protection enforced against my wishes…indeed, it took a death sentence for me to stop denying my true feelings.

_I promise that today and forevermore there will be no more denial, no more doubt, no more saying no. Today is all about saying 'yes'. Yes, to me and what I want. Yes to you, Anakin, and what you need. _

_Yes to love. _


	5. Part V: Anakin

Ok, so August was a little/a lot busy for me... This post was originally supposed to be the final post with Anakin's thoughts first and Padmé's following as the ending. Since I only have Anakin's part written I'm going ahead and post it because it's been so long in between chapters! It's short but that's why, sorry : / Enjoy!

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**"Perhaps love is the process of my leading you gently back to yourself."**

**\- Antoine de Saint-Exupery**

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Anakin Skywalker

Varykino House

Upstairs Grand Suite

The Force gently nudges my senses. The flame of one of the last remaining candles sputters out in quiet of the late night hour. I watch the smoke wisp and curl away followed by a trail of wax that dribbles into a poetic little puddle below it. One-by-one, I've watched the other candles go out in the same way. Earlier, I promised myself to get some sleep as soon as the last candle fades. Now there's only one left on the sideboard table next to your side of our bed. The back lighting creates a soft glow behind your soundly sleeping frame; a halo for my angel. It might be cliché if it weren't true.

Besides your ethereal illumination, the room is dark. Not pitch-black dark but instead a deep indigo, moonlit dark. I note the sweet smelling breeze that sways the curtains in and out of the windowpanes in a chaotic anti-rhythm. Our shared sheets only just a while ago heated by newlyweded passion, are now cool to the touch.

Our first time together was not perfect. No, better than perfect, it was _real_. Loving you was give and take, push and pull, ebb and flow...a partnership in shared pleasure; superior to any dream or fantasy. In a sense, this night is the culmination of 10 years of far-a-way wishes and hopes.

"_I've thought of her every day since we parted all those years ago." _

It was true. Besides seeing you flash across the HoloNet in a news blurb now and again, beautiful even in the electronic-blue light of a display screen, I only had memories of our short time together to treasure. Brief moments hobbled together in a kind of cherished security blanket, easily pulled out for comfort in times of trial, insecurity, or loneliness. Precious moments from childhood that became more and more like my own made-up mythos as the years went on.

Padmé, just a few weeks ago you were more memory to me than reality. And now my own reality feels more like fantasy...but better. Honestly, I am afraid to miss a minute, even a second. I'm afraid to close my eyes, to fall back asleep. What if I wake up and you're gone? What if I am transported to a different version of reality, a version where your brown eyes have hardened into steely ones? Or worse, one where we've never met?

Loving you makes me feel whole. I feel more human than I can ever remember; it's ironic, as I am now less human with the loss of my arm. Nevertheless, with you I feel as if I am the best version of Anakin. More like the child from Tatooine and less like the killer that I became upon my return. Your nurturing spirit is a temper to the flame within me and you refuse to define me by it.

I watch your bare back rise and fall. I want to caress your skin, but you are so lovely while you sleep and so I dare not wake you. You need rest, you need this time to recover. Even in this faint candlelight I can see the drag lines from where that monster clawed you. Bacta could only heal so much. Four faint scars will be there forever. I cringe at the thought of that creature having marred your perfection.

Yet, I'm so lucky to even see these scars! I'm in awe of our comfort with each other, our closeness is invaluable. We are now closer than close-it is oneness. I feel the fabric of our Force-signatures knitted together in a new blanket. A tangible, alive one with two hearts beating in sync as one…I can sense the pulses of our life-energy vibrating together and it is the most beautiful feeling to me in this whole galaxy. I imagine a future where I can cling to you-anywhere, anytime, and on any planet that the Jedi Council sends me to fight this war on.

It's too good to be true.

And then a little voice inside me retorts…_Or to true to be good?_ Would Obi-Wan sense this truth, the reality of our union, within me upon my return? Just as I can sense the difference within me, could he, my brother in arms, sense it as well? Only time will tell. And my current time with you, Padmé, is short. Too short to worry.

No, I will not be worried. I will be resolute.

Nothing will come between us.


	6. Part VI: Padme, Finale

**"My bounty is as boundless as the sea,  
My love as deep; the more I give to thee,  
The more I have, for both are infinite."**

**-Shakespeare, ****_Romeo and Juliet_**

Padmé Amidala

Varykino House

Upstairs Grand Suite

Right before I feel asleep I sensed your fingers graze the nearly healed scratches on my back. You thought I was asleep and since my back was turned, you couldn't tell that I was smiling, soaking in the intimate display of your affection in the late-night hour. I'm sure I feel asleep like that, smirking uncontrollably.

I awake to this sunlight filled room and I'm still grinning. For the first time, in as long as I can remember, I awake happy; I am not concerned, nor practicing speeches, or going over a daily agenda. Our union has lifted the burden of a life lived alone, a life devoted to the public good. I didn't realize what a load this work had really been until you came back into my life. _So this is what Mom and Sola wanted for me all along…_

Abruptly, I feel the bed shift underneath me. You are awake too and have turned your face towards mine. I don't think I've ever seen such a delightful sight.

"Good morning," you greet me.

"Good morning," I respond. I notice you looking down at me with blushing cheeks and I rearrange the sheets around my naked torso. I note this is the first time we are seeing each other bare in the bright light of day, no dim rooms or shadows for mystery. Noticeably, we're both still a little sheepish with each other. "Did you sleep well?"

You ignore my question but your eyes are hazy as if you didn't. I try and hide my concern for you. A smile spreads across your lips as you take a curl of my hair and twist it around your humanoid index finger.

We are so young, I forget sometimes. But in this morning light, fresh faced and without affect, our youth is inescapable. There are no Jedi robes or weapons lending you authority nor do I have my senatorial gowns to grant clout to my slight frame. Together in this bed we are not boy-hero and former queen, nor Jedi and senator; we are only man and woman lying together as husband and wife. We are young lovers from different sects of society, forbidden to be together, now secretly wedded and bedded-much like the romantic lore of old.

"What are you thinking about?" you ask me.

I consider that you'd probably like me to say 'you', but instead I tell the truth, "Oh…an old Naboo fable."

This perks your interest and you lean back on your pillow idly with arms crossed behind your head and say, "Tell me."

"It's just an old legend…" You turn over on your side, with your head on your hand, and stare me down playfully, so I continue. "…once upon a time in ancient Naboo, there lived a girl from the royal house of Kenta and boy from Kenta's enemy, the house of Dominaée. They fell in love secretly and against their parent's wishes. Knowing they could never have their families' blessings, they were compelled by true love to marry in a secret ceremony...sound familiar?"

Your eyes twinkle, beautiful and blue. "Go on…"

"Oh, well there's a conflict between the two houses and confusion ensues…but I can't quite remember the ending…" I lie to you, uninterested in ruining our first morning together with the true conclusion.

"Promise me something..." you tell me.

I nod my head in agreement.

"Promise that one day we won't have to hide like they did. That when we see fit, we'll come out of the shadows and live openly…unashamed. Even if that means that I leave Order eventually. One day, I want the whole galaxy to know that I love you…not just a holy man and a couple of droids."

I laugh a little at that last bit. "Ahhhh but Anakin, you are forgetting someone. Another person knows..."

"Who?"

I seductively roll my torso on top of yours, unashamed. Your tanned skin against my pallor is so warm and inviting. And then I answer, "Me._ I_ know you love me. And that's all that matters today, you and me." I began tracing your lips with my index finger, eager to memorize the shape of them. Today is the first and last day of our honeymoon and I want to savor each and every part of you.

I want to remember the shape of these lips on the nights I can not kiss them.

I bend down a little and slowly begin to kiss you. You struggle to reply in between my affections, "I know…but… one day…after this war…"

I try and shush you. Your hands, one warm, one cold, begin to slide down my back, to my hips, and beyond. I am desperate for you.

Conversely, you are desperate for my answer. "Please, Padmé."

This is the best day of life. There's not a place in this galaxy I'd rather be. Not anyone else I'd rather be with. I run my fingers through your hair.

How could I deny you anything ever again?

"Shhh, Alright. I promise Ani. Now, no more worries…" I bury my nose in his neck and inhale him "…just love me."

And you happily obliged.

"**These violent delights have violent ends**  
**And in their triump die, like fire and powder**  
**Which, as they kiss, consume" **

**\- Shakespeare, ****_Rome and Juliet_**

_If you enjoyed-please comment! _

_Sincerely,_

**_Lizabethia_**


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